Blizzard Surprised by Reaction to Online-Only Diablo 3

[willsham45]

I know war craft is forced online but that is really the hole point I just cannot understand how blizzard missed the general hate other companies got for releasing forced online games even then there is a single player mode.
Or have they all been too busy playing wow to notice.

 

[Therumancer]

This more or less shows how detached Blizzard has become from it's customer/user base. Either that or they are playing dumb as a sort of damage control, while they play around with the scheme that worked so well for Ubisoft.

I also imagine they figure there are enough Diablo addicts out there where they could put extra ripe cow paddies into the boxes on top of the disks and people would still clean them off and play. As a result they figure that even if people hate the DRM, it's not going to influance their bottom line of legitimate sales.

To be honest, how many people who have been waiting for this game with major anticipation for the last few days have suddenly decided that they will not buy/play it? I mean seriously, not just "I'm going to say so on the internet and then buy it anyway". If your a series fan, ask yourself that question, and then realize that exact mentality is why the industry plays kick the can with the consumer base. Things like nerd-rage petitions mean nothing unless backed with force, or a direct loss of revenue. Unless you can get hundreds of thousands not to buy a game like this, or have a group like Lulzsec ready to make a company miserable (and they know the group is coming) your not going to get anywhere.

 

[zefichan]

Was a huge diablo 2 fangirl (Bowazon!).

Diablo 3 won't be bought. My connection isn't stable enough, meaning I won't be able to play it. Similar games showed this.

Too bad, really. I'd like to.

 

[Liquid Paradox]

Am I the only one who has noticed that gaming is going into the shitter? (Rhetorical question... of course I'm not) Every time I look at gaming-related news, I have to read about developers going out of their way to screw players. B.S. drm, Ubisoft, and now this? Where the hell are the gamers voices in all of this?? Are we being heard at all?

I am now boycotting Blizzard. Not just Dia-blow 3, but all blizzard. I am sick of this shit.

 

[Baresark]

I am quite frankly surprised by his surprise.

"We've been doing online gameplay for 15 years now... and with World of WarCraft and our roots in Battle.net and now with Diablo 3, it really is just the nature of how things are going, the nature of the industry. When you look at everything you get by having that persistent connection on the servers, you cannot ignore the power and the draw of that."

I love how he points out that this is the direction that the industry is going. That could be true, but the industry NEEDS to got the way the consumers want it to go. And I can't think of a single reason to have a persistent online connection outside any MMO at all. The only thing we will have access to all the time seems to be the game breaking store. The only time you need a persistent connection is for PVP, and since the single player game doesn't have PVP, then there really is no reason for it.

I take back what I said, I'm not surprised by his reaction at all. When you are as big as Blizzard is, then you get disconnected from your target audience. Then another company is going to come along, and take them away because they are capable of anticipating consumer needs. That is why people get to the top, and do not occupy it for long.

 

[aba1]

Does anyone know exactly what these benefits of have an always on connection are? I can really think of any.

I was thinking the same thing the only thing I could think of is having a communitee and playing with your friends but thats only 2 things and not everyone even cares about either.

I just dont like the idea of a company telling me when I can and cannot play my game. If I own it I should be able to play it when ever I please but this is the same reason I dont touch MMO's

 

[Gxas]

"And, at the end of the day, how many people are going to want to do that?"

Idk, thousands of people?

At the end of the day, how many people are still going to buy this game even though it doesn't have dedicated servers offline play?

If you really, really want to show Blizzard how bad of an idea this is, then those of you who disagree need to not ever buy this game. Ever.

Personally, I'm unaffected because my internet connection is just fine and we're looking into switching to something even better. So, I'll be enjoying this game on release.

Also, I think Blizzard is thinking more ideally that realistically. Ideally, everyone would have a strong, sturdy fiber-optic line into their homes. Currently? Fiber-optics still cost a ton of money to install, on top of having to pay more for the service. Give it twenty years, then this would be a much more realistic vision.

 

[koroem]

Any clown who believes this isn't a DRM thing needs to get their heads checked. Prettying up DRM by disguising it as anti-cheat or a method to "maintain the flow" is comical at best.

Glad I wasn't interested in this game, because now I'm totally against it. I've never been a Blizzard fan, and probably won't be now. Thanks for saving me money Blizzard.

 

[jamesworkshop]

Do people still not get it, it's not intended to be a single player game, the comparison with AC2 is false.

It's always online for the same reason guild wars 1 and 2 will be when it arrives, same as world of warcraft or the upcomming star wars the old republic.

If you avoid this game then i must insist that you avoid all thoses others because they are no different.

Yes, because Diablo 3 is an MMO.

yes that is excatly what they have made, people are thinking that diablo 3 was just some graphical update/remake of diablo 2 which clearly is not the case.

everything about this game screams guild wars, mmo, instanced player groups, single one time payment and subscription free.

soloing a mmo is not the same thing as a single player game

Its actually called Blizzard trying to shoe-horn their "Battlenet 2.0" into everything they are making now. That's why you have to always be online to play Starcraft 2, that's why you can only have ONE account per CD-key for it. That definitely ain't an MMO though.

Diablo 3 is about as much of an MMO as Diablo 1 or 2 was. You're just confusing unnecessary bullshit with "features".

battlenet 2.0 a single profile cross-title xbox live style system for blizzard titles much like the single account that hold your characters in an mmo

no starcraft is not an mmo but thats fatuous when the comparision i made was with guildwars which diablo 3 clearly is 99% the same

i'm still baffled why people are soo confused by greater online intergration in an industry moving towards non-local machine rendering (cloud) from one of the most online focused developers on the planet.

No one seems willing to take me up on this point because their simply is no difference between diablo 3 and guildwars 2 which a ton of people are hyped for.

 

[Joseph Alexander]

i find it odd the people are putting the devs up on the block for DRM systems.
hell if anyone is at fault its any and everyone who pirates.

 

[samsonguy920]

If it isn't about DRM, then it should be easy to fix before release. I am getting sick and tired of this attitude from developers that, 'We have this awesome technology, of course gamers have it, too!'
Bull. Gamers don't have their own internet hub in their household basement guaranteeing steady access. Not all gamers have superpowerful systems ready to play Crysis 2256: Revenge of the Supergalacticquadromegadefinition Graphics Engine.
The Auction House is a crazy weed dream but I can handle that. As long as it doesn't sell items not found in the gameworld, I can ignore that. Let other people try to make their fortune with that and then realize Blizzard is having the last laugh.
Blizzard, turn the always on feature off, and I will buy Diablo 3. Keep it on, and I won't spend a single dime on another Blizzard product again. Because I know you will pull the same crap with Heart of the Swarm.

 

[aba1]

I am quite frankly surprised by his surprise.

"We've been doing online gameplay for 15 years now... and with World of WarCraft and our roots in Battle.net and now with Diablo 3, it really is just the nature of how things are going, the nature of the industry. When you look at everything you get by having that persistent connection on the servers, you cannot ignore the power and the draw of that."

I love how he points out that this is the direction that the industry is going. That could be true, but the industry NEEDS to got the way the consumers want it to go. And I can't think of a single reason to have a persistent online connection outside any MMO at all. The only thing we will have access to all the time seems to be the game breaking store. The only time you need a persistent connection is for PVP, and since the single player game doesn't have PVP, then there really is no reason for it.

I take back what I said, I'm not surprised by his reaction at all. When you are as big as Blizzard is, then you get disconnected from your target audience. Then another company is going to come along, and take them away because they are capable of anticipating consumer needs. That is why people get to the top, and do not occupy it for long.

I agree but disagree I mean look at how well nintendo holds out people who get attached to brands help stop this healthy cycle. For many companys however this does happen and it isnt a rare occurence at all but there are some that are so big they break the cylce like sony for example (not the ps not going to get into that arguement lmao) there electronics tend to be over priced and have really poor designs but still sell well because no matter how bad sony fucks up there will always be sony fanboys/girls

 

[Ghengis John]

"You're introducing a separate user flow, a separate path that players are going to go down," he explained. "And, at the end of the day, how many people are going to want to do that?">

God God what an incredible and absolute load of bullshit.

 

[bakan]

Does anyone know exactly what these benefits of have an always on connection are? I can really think of any.

I was thinking the same thing the only thing I could think of is having a communitee and playing with your friends but thats only 2 things and not everyone even cares about either.

I just dont like the idea of a company telling me when I can and cannot play my game. If I own it I should be able to play it when ever I please but this is the same reason I dont touch MMO's

Well, it is only convenient for the corporations as they get more power over their customers and effectively just offer services if you have to be always online which denies you some rights you would have with 'real' copies.

 

[Atmos Duality]

"I don't think [DRM] ever came up when we talked about how we want connections to operate," he said. So why not just make an offline mode for people who want to play that way? "You're introducing a separate user flow, a separate path that players are going to go down," he explained. "And, at the end of the day, how many people are going to want to do that?"

How many people want to do that?

I don't know...HOW ABOUT ALL THE PEOPLE YOU ARE SUPPOSEDLY RESPONDING TO!! YOU KNOW, THE TOPIC OF THE INTERVIEW YOU PROVIDED A QUOTE FOR IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!

So he's not only an idiot, but also a poor liar.

How is this system not DRM? Because it obviously is. There is absolutely ZERO REASON to eliminate the option of LAN or Offline Play other than that.

So go ahead, prove to me it isn't DRM. Don't just say it isn't, prove it. Don't "reinterpret" it as "convenience". Prove it.

Hell, if any of your worthless, mindless grind-addict sheep can prove it, I'll retract everything I said and buy D3 on Day 1.

 

[Althus]

So it´s not the DRM, so why the online always on connection?
To pay another hidden cut? To spy us?